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What was your first car

A 9 year old 1946 Green Ford Pickup from some of the money I made working on a Ranch the summer between my Soph and Jr year in HS. It didn't have the "Heater" option so I carried two old army blankets to wrap up in during winter months, because it DID have Lots of Ventilation, but none of the girls seemed to mind. :D After I rebuilt the engine, (not exactly stock), I helped it "Eat" several Used transmissions, ($25 each installed), and once while "Financially Challenged" at college, drove it for over three months with it hung in High gear. You just didn't park it anywhere you couldn't hold the clutch in with one foot and push it back out of the parking space with the other. Leapin' Lena was what I called it, and it was even better known than me around the campus, (especially at Bonfire time).

Most "Exciting Experience" in it; The day I pushed the brake hard to stop for a Train that suddenly appeared at an intown crossing with no flashing lights, (normal type crossing back then), and after momentarily slowing, the pedal went to the floor, (Brake line burst) and I did a two wheel turn and ran down the RR ROW almost a block before it stopped. (Good thing the seat already had a hole in it).
 
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This is really a great thread. :clap:

I've seen some car names that I hadn't seen in many a year. And those that are posting pics or links, thanks. :thumb: Some of the names I remember, but couldn't picture.

Karl
 
First car was a bright yellow 1979 Mustang with a straight 6. I totaled it about 3 months later and ended up with another Mustang which slowly got converted into a really nice car--red with a 351.
 
Karl Laustrup said:
This is really a great thread. :clap:
Karl
Click to expand...

You are right.........now to get more milage out this thread, here is what can do with this thread to determine the ages of the individuals.

Say the average age is 16, now take the year of the car to determine how old the "F_ _ _t's" are

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
My first car, was a truck :D

a69_datsun_521.jpg
Like this, but this on is MUCH nicer!!

A 1969 Datsun 521 pickup.

Bought it for $100, it had a blown up J13 motor (1300cc, which developed a WHOPPING 76 Hp, IIRC) and they were few and far between, even in the early 80's, so I got a J18, 1800cc motor from a fairly new roll over car, I think it was a 620..:huh:

I had to make new motor mounts for it, a custom header, and have a custom exhaust built for it too, went with 3" pipe and a VERY free breathing muffler (that was a "Muffler" in name only :rolleyes:). I had some intake stacks from a wreaked 510 ice racer that I put twin Webber carbs on. The motor was rebuilt, with pistons from a 240Z, for a higher compression rate. I could not spring for a 5 speed tranny, they were worth more than my truck! The truck came stock with a 4:10 rear end, so it did not have much of a top speed, but boy, did it get there fast! :headbang:

I had a buddy who's dad owned a machine shop that did a LOT of work for the local drag racing scene, so we shortened the rear end by 4" and I took a set of stock wheels, cut them in half, and welded in 4" of steel, so I could put some monster tires on the back, but they "looked" stock from the side :D

I also had a cut out put in the exhaust, for the drag strip, but one weekend after a few too many beers and a good "What if" session, we decided to build a remotely operated cut out, I had a clutch cable from a dirt bike, which we rigged up with a simple handle and lock in the cab, I could open that cut out in a jiffy and shut it just a soon when the RCs showed up:rolleyes:

The body was three shades of white, with patches of gray and brown primer. Total sleeper :biker: I love to pull up next to some guy in a Corvette or Mustang and rev the engine, the guy would look over, look at my stupid looking little truck, and roll his eyes and then laugh, then I'd pull open the cut out and rev the engine......... 3' long flames shooting out of the side of my truck and a small increase in the noise usually got their attention :rofl:

Stop light to stop light, it was hard to beat, but like I said, the top speed was low, I think 70 mph redlining the engine :doh:

Oh well, it was fun, I learned a lot and had a GREAT time in it, hauled a lot of dirtbikes, and fire wood too!

My second "Car" was............

86_GSX-R750.jpg
Yep the original sport bike, a 1986 Suzuki GSXR 750 :clap:

Man I loved that bike!! :bow:

Cheers!
 
My first car was a 1970 VW bug. I still remember how much it cost - $2420.24. Brand new from the dealer! I was a junior in college. It was a marvel of non-automatic systems. I think the only electric do-dads were the lights and radio - and you had to remember to turn off the radio because it wasn't shut off with the ignition. Very German. Very easy to push start - radio left on killed battery! Since the battery was under the back seat it was much less trouble to push than to get jumped.

Second car, 1985 Nissan PU. Nothing flashy, got rid of it in 2002 with only 250K miles on it. Cost about $8500.

Current transportation, 2002 Toyota Tacoma PU. $17500 or there abouts. Since it's only 5 years old I haven't had it long enough to have a real history with it yet.

That's it, 37 yrs. - 3 cars/trucks. My motto, 'Buy new, pay cash, keep 'em a while'.
 
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Jim O'Dell said:
Stu, this McGyver thing with you started early in life, didn't it? :D :D What did you do to your first trike?? De-stroke the pedal arm length to get a faster start? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Jim.
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You don't know the half of it :D

I drove my parents nuts, I would "Play" with a toy for a short time, then I'd take it apart to see how it worked :rolleyes: I was maybe 8 before I could start to get them back together again, up to that point, my dad had to do it for me......:thumb:

I remember building a roll cage for my GI Joe jeep out of old coat hanger, and some thin copper wire wrapped around the joints, then soldered together.......... Dad was less than impressed with the amount of solder I used :)

I also build a Mt Bike before they had Mt Bikes, I took an old bicycle that my sister did not want, it had nice BIG balloon tires on it, and a basic frame. Had the coaster brakes, so I took them out and I put a set of rim brakes on the rear wheel, then a set of flat handle bars, had a ball with that bike. The we started to build ramps to jump it, Jumped fairly high too, high enough to break the frame just about in half, and my left arm in two pieces..........that was the beginning of a long relationship with the Orthopedic surgeon, between my older brother and I, my Mom was on a first name basis with the guy :rofl:

My move into motorized vehicles was in the form of dirt bikes, and after I kept on busting them (and bones) my dear old dad got tired of paying for parts and labour, so he bought me a service manual for the bike, and a set of Craftsman tools........the rest is history!! :doh:
 
Frank, that's a sharp looking wagon there! No, I'm serious. It has all the styling cues of the era, but still manages to be clean in the final presentation. Plus, I'm partial to wagons.:D :thumb:

Stu, the sleeper thing is great isn't it! My '71 was a lot like your PU except it looked like a grandma's car (OK it was my Grandma's car). And like yours, top end wasn't there, but light to light WOW.:D

Wes
 
This looks fun.

Half of the car's here I have never even heard of!

Mine was a 1980's Leyland Mini GT, 1275cc. To this day I still miss driving that car. Had to sell it when I bought a more reliable vehicle. The Mini used to run for 3 months followed by a month of TLC. By the time I sold it I had completely re-built it twice!

Currently I drive a 1998 Mitsubishi Colt and am looking after my dad's 1959 Austin Healey Sprite (Bug Eye)
 
Jim O'Dell said:
Stu, this McGyver thing with you started early in life, didn't it? :D :D What did you do to your first trike?? De-stroke the pedal arm length to get a faster start? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Jim.
Click to expand...
That's funny stuff right there, I don't care who you are. :p

Stuart Hanford said:
This looks fun.

Half of the car's here I have never even heard of!

Mine was a 1980's Leyland Mini GT, 1275cc. ...
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Now see, most of us have no idea what a Leyland Mini GT looks like, so we're even. :D :)

Mr. Google found a picture for me, though:

74grnGT%20RF.JPG


Not really a lumber hauler, is it? Looks like a lot of fun to drive, though. :thumb:
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
That's funny stuff right there, I don't care who you are. :p


Now see, most of us have no idea what a Leyland Mini GT looks like, so we're even. :D :)

Mr. Google found a picture for me, though:


Not really a lumber hauler, is it? Looks like a lot of fun to drive, though. :thumb:
Click to expand...


An 80's 1275gt would have looked more like this

fs_mvc-006f.jpg


Squarer front - Rostyle Wheels (later models had Dunlop Denovo runflat tyres) huge gobs of power from its 1275 cc (78 cu in), 59bhp engine. Who needs a T-bird anyway!
 
Thats the one!

"Squarer front - Rostyle Wheels (later models had Dunlop Denovo runflat tyres) huge gobs of power from its 1275 cc (78 cu in), 59bhp engine. Who needs a T-bird anyway!"

It wasnt the power that mattered, it was the low centre of gravity! :D

"Not really a lumber hauler, is it? Looks like a lot of fun to drive, though. "

It was amazing what we got into there as students. The max payload was 5 people and 2 guitars! (Very snug!)
But, yeah not great for wood hauling. Thats why I got one of these:
 

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1949 Packard, One heck of a tank. Big Black Beauty with Straight 8 engine and Limo doors.

Followed by 1955 Chevy 2 door hardtop that I rebuilt from ground up.
 
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